"I don't know, but I'm going to investigate!" said Alssonus with finality, and stepped forward towards the other glow.Below him in a sort of sink in the floor of the cavern, stood the Alsson woman that he had rescued. Well, Alsson girl, really, since she looked only about sixteen or seventeen. Her robe, dyed in blue and gray, was rent, and she clutched at the edges of the tear to shield herself from his eyes.He spoke to her in Alsson. "Ehvaerr an, ehvaerr an. Yn daencht an gahrt." Worry not, worry not. I mean no harm.

Maritann heard voices around the next cavern corner but in a lnaguage he could barely understand, he creeped silently around the next corner. His sword was held up high for a quick downward strike, he jumped around the corner.

"Feww," He said in Arcturan, it was just the two people from earlier, Alssonus, 'Nasia, and the Alsson girl. "These caves are honeycombed like a behive, eh?"

Alssonus raised his hand in an Imperial greeting."Hail, Maritann." he said, and turned to whisper something in the Alsson girl's ear. She nodded, whispered something into his ear, and looked at 'Nasia and Maritann."This is Boellah. She's as lost as we are, so she'll be coming with us, if there are no objections. We'd best find a way out of here, because I'm hungry." the adventurer said, grinning widely.

'Nasia kept in step with the big Alsson. "I don't think I've ever seen a mountain so riddled with caves before." She paused and thought. "Of course, I generally don't make it a practice to be inside of mountains." She glanced at the stranger, then said in halting Alsson, "I'm 'Nasia."

Boellah nodded sparingly towards 'Nasia and said "Maein nwaet esh Boellah." My name is Boellah.She began to follow the other two, the strange small man with the great coat and the tall man who had spoken to her first.After about twenty minutes of walking, following the coated man, the four entered into a great chamber, squinting at the sudden inrushing of light in their eyes.They stood in a great, dome-shaped chamber, formed from natural rock, with a massive collapse in the center of the roof, allowing sunlight and air into the caverns. A pile of rubble lay within the shaft of light, and icicles hung dripping from the ragged edges of the hole.The large man strode forward and stood at the top of the pile of stone wreckage. He spoke to the others in that odd language. "The collapse is too high to reach. We'll have to keep going."

Maritann shook his head, "Hold on anyone have any rope, I could probaly shoot a graple up there." Maritann shrugged the long bow off his shoulder and selected a rather wicked looking arrow with three hooks on it and it was made of metal. "So any of you carry any?"

Alssonus spat and shook his head. "Nope. Used all of mine a while ago."He went over to Boellah, who averted her gaze shyly. After a short conversation in Alsson, the adventurer turned."She has none." He shrugged and looked toward 'Nasia.

"Sorry, not one of the things I routinely carry." 'Nasia carried many things, tucked into nonobvious pockets and folds. But if she couldn't conceal it, she didn't carry it, unless of course she thought it might be useful. She looked around. "So, I guess we go on."

"Why not keep going? Just pray Asclepius Healthgod that the tunnels don't collapse." Alssonus said bluntly, and stepped onward down the tunnel.Boellah looked at Maritann and 'Nasia with a cast of distrust in her eyes, and turned quickly to follow the adventurer.Alssonus quickly saw that he wouldn't need to be praying to Asclepius any time soon. The ontic stability of the granite surfaces assured that the tunnel would stay as it was."I think we'll be fine if we just go this way." he called out to the assassin and the wanderer.

The tunnel became progressively steeper as they descended, until, to their surprise, a stair, cut into the rock, descending into the darkness. At the very base of the stair, almost beyond the reach of their sight, a small laval-shaded tear in the darkness glowed, promising further adventures like the orange eye of a dragon."Womenfolk first, my lady!" said Alssonus with sarcastic chivalry, taking Boellah's hand and leading her to the narrow stair. Then he swept his arm broadly, inviting 'Nasia to go along behind the Alsson girl with a chuckle of characteristic mirth.

'Nasia followed Boellah down the stairs. "Down and down we go," she said cheerfully. She had no idea what was going on, but frankly suspected that it was going to end up being... interesting at the very least. After long experience, she had decided that Fortuna and Plentimon had very odd senses of humor, but that was just fine with her.

Maritann grinned and cocked his head to one side, "Like you said ladies first." His friendly smile removed the insult's bite. Maritann couldn't help but feeling a nagging feeling in the back of his head, he really really hated caves.

The stair seemed interminable, an endless rattling drop of far distance through blind night, with a mounting vibration rolling through the floor and walls, accompanied by a laval glow from the approaching doorway.Finally, Boellah stepped out through said doorway into a vast cavern, and immediately retreated, shielding her face from the blistering heat.The chamber beyond shimmered with vast oceans of heated air floating above a pit from which the red-orange glow emananted. A thin arch of stone, just wide enough to be crossed, passed over this glowing chasm.Alssonus braved the heat and peered over the edge.Below, a rushing, blasting river of magma rushed by, as if some titan in ages past had torn away the earth's flesh to reveal the bursting blood beneath. The molten rock threw of great volumes of rockshine, throwing every corner of the chamber into great detail.Alssonus turned and shouted over the din "What...Should we...Do?"

Maritann shouted back to Alssonus, "Not much left to do eh?" With that he passed the others and ran walked across the rock bridge at a good pace. He didn't even flinch when the lava bubbled near him. On the other side he called back, "Come on, its a easier than eating cake."

Maritann looked around a little and made sure there was a cave leading further on.

Alssonus turned and shrugged to Boellah and 'Nasia, and then, taking the Alsson girl's hand to steady her, he walked quickly across the bridge. The arcing arm of stone creaked menacingly under their weight.On the other side, Alssonus squatted and released a heavy breath, shaking his head to relieve tension, and then stood to motion 'Nasia across.

'Nasia was probably the lightest of the group, but she still didn't like being on a bridge over glowing lava. She scampered across, and took a minute to steady herself. "Well, that was fun. What next?"

Alssonus pointed towards the ongoing tunnel, where the laval rockshine did not penetrate.The big adventurer looked around for his torch, but couldn't find it."Did any of you see where I dropped it?" he said, and then, without waiting for a response said, "Nevermind."He stepped into the shadows.

Beyond the chamber of flames, the heat quickly dropped, until Boellah was once again shivering.Alssonus swept off his heavy wolf-fur and draped it on the girl's shoulders."Dahm uell aiuergen." he said. That will help.Ahead of them, the passage angled steeply upwards and widened into a broad sloped gallery, covered with a heavy coat of shattered talus and boulders.As they entered, Alssonus said "We'll have to climb up."Then came a noise, like a muffled explosion deep in the bowels of the mountain, and an escalating rumbling.The talus and scree jumped and shivered, and began to rattle downward.The adventurer shouted "Run!" and then threw his arms against a large boulder, holding it back to allow the others time to escape.

Maritann knew he wouldn't be needing his long bow so he whipped is off his shoulder and propped it under the boulder Alssonus was holding, "Hurry now it will hold but a second," With out waiting he ran. Darting between the falling rocks and debris as nimby as if he had springs in his feet.

All of the sudden he slipped on a piece of scree that flooded the chamber and was buried...

A'lai had spent literally days finding this suitable area, deep in the darkness of these caverns, to perform his ritual. His strange eyes remain closed as he patiently sat the ritual circle, surrounded by 'mystic' runes carefully drawn by his own blood - after all, his great lord K'Thalath demands blood, and A'lai was not hesitant about giving it. He knew what his god demanded of him and unlike so many other Kozkirrim, he was not afraid to satisfy those demands - A true fanatic, was he. So blessed was A'lai, that the great Priest-queen herself had blessed him with hearing her voice, ordering him to leave his lands to make a connection with their god, to speak with him personally.

He had sat within that circle now, for almost nineteen hours, forgoing food and drink, when finally, he felt a shifting in his mind, the feel of an omniscient power forming a connection. No fear flowed through him, but excitement certainly did, for none had spoken directly to the great god since the great leader Aazkai-e was offered the victory of that battle, so long ago. Even the Priest Kings and queens had only ever had a partial link to him. A'lai was overwhelmed with a sense of honour, of privelige, he was in ecstasy! Then abruptly the caverns shook with the shuddering of a large explosion, tipping A'lai off-balance and forcing his black and grey eyes to flutter open, only to realise he had been knocked off his central position on the ritual circle. A'lai Screamed in absolute fury, rising to his feet. "Sh-ekrath Du mekhramel orthiliath de-molian ..." This string of Kozkirrim linguistics streamed on for a good five minutes and, taking into consideration the people that may be reading this, I won't translate such foul language. Finally, A'lai stopped his uttering and shifted both hands beneath his Black, silver-rimmed (Showing his status as a Taacharai) robes and withdrew two slim poignards, perfectly formed to be able to slip between the ribs to strike the organs beneath. "By the one true god, I will find the maggot who is responsible for this!"

A'lai traversed back up the tunnel he had taken to get to that spot, his feet not even stumbling at the occasional rumblings which must mean a cave-in nearby - as he was used to subterrainean life, and was aware of how to traverse such unsteady ground with little difficulty. As he enters the branch to another cavern, he spots a peculiar sight - A large man attempting to push a boulder back, and another man half-covered by slate, rocks and the like. Sighing irritably, he resheathes his daggers and darts forth, his feet stepping nimbly apon the sturdy ground, deftly dodging any lose rocks. The man pushes that foolishly heroic male forth forcefully, shoving him and using the momentum of his speed to force himself forward as well, out of range of that large boulder, plus the worst of the rubble which falls around it. Of course little can be done to avoid small injuries from the many fallen rocks dropped, but A'lai's heavy cloak protects him from the worst. As for the others? Well, he cares little if they are too wounded, just so long as they can talk to tell him who made that Accursed explosion! After the the worst of the avalanche is over - the audible crashing and violent shaking, - A'lai shifts forth to kick away what rocks he can of what covered that other man, and once enough is revealed of this other person, he reaches down to forcibly wrench the man out. Beneath his hood, his flat, strange face is curled into an expression of absolute malice - in an other circumstance, he would have left these to die, but he wants to slaughter whoever caused that explosion, and these people may hold information for him.A'lai has not yet seen either of the women, of course.